From the Washington Post Style Invitation, in which it
was postulated that English should have male and
female nouns, and readers were asked to assign a
gender to a noun of their choice and explain their
reason.
The best submissions:
SWISS ARMY KNIFE -- male, because even though it
appears useful for a wide variety of work, it spends
most of its time just opening bottles.
KIDNEYS -- female, because they always go to the
bathroom in pairs.
TIRE -- male, because it goes bald and often is over
inflated.
HOT AIR BALLOON: male, because to get it to go
anywhere you have to light a fire under it... and, of
course, there's the hot air part.
SPONGES -- female, because they are soft and
squeezable and retain water.
WEB PAGE -- female, because it is always getting hit on.
SHOE -- male, because it is usually unpolished, with its
tongue hanging out.
COPIER -- female, because once turned off, it takes a
while to warm up. Because it is an effective reproductive
device when the right buttons are pushed. Because it
can wreak havoc when the wrong buttons are pushed.
ZIPLOC BAGS -- male, because they hold everything in,
but you can always see right through them.
SUBWAY -- male, because it uses the same old lines to
pick people up.
HOURGLASS -- female, because over time, the weight
shifts to the bottom.
HAMMER -- male, because it hasn't evolved much over
the last 5,000 years, but it's handy to have around.
REMOTE CONTROL -- female...Ha! You thought I'd say
male. But consider, it gives man pleasure, he'd be lost
without it, and while he doesn't always know the right
buttons to push, he keeps trying.